Tray and lid for a thermally insulating container

ABSTRACT

A panel (14) for use in a thermally insulating container (2), the panel (14) comprising a body of a thermally insulating material in the form of a tray element (72) having one or more upwardly open compartments (74) for receiving thermal conditioning elements (16) therein.

The present invention relates to thermally insulated containers, inparticular, but not exclusively, to palletised insulated containers, andto components for use therein.

It is frequently necessary to transport temperature sensitive goods byroad, rail or air. Typically such goods are packed within an insulatedcontainer which contains thermal conditioning elements, typically in theform of coolant packs, which are arranged around the goods to maintainthe goods at a desired temperature. The packs may be housed in sleeveswhich are attached to the inner wall of the container, for example asshown in GB-A-2459392. In another arrangement, the packs may be housedin channels formed internally of an insulating body as shown inGB-A-2500657.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved insulated containerwhich is easy to manufacture and assemble.

From a first aspect, the invention provides a thermal conditioning wallpanel for use in a thermally insulating container, comprising: a panelbody having a channel formed therein along one face of the body forreceiving one or more thermal conditioning elements, and at least onefoot formed at the lower end of the panel body for engagement within asocket provided on the thermally insulating container; the panel furthercomprising thermal conditioning element retaining elements providedadjacent the longitudinal edges of the channel, said retaining elementsprojecting over a peripheral portion of the channel for retaining thethermal conditioning elements within the channel.

In this way, thermal conditioning elements such as coolant blocks orbricks may easily be mounted in a thermally conditioning wall panel. Theretaining elements extend sufficiently far over the channel to preventthe thermal conditioning elements falling out of the channels, but donot extend fully across the channel. This reduces the weight of thepanel.

The panel body is preferably thermally insulating and is preferably madefrom a thermally insulating material, for example an expanded foammaterial.

The lower end of the channel may be at least partially closed to preventthe thermal conditioning element(s) from falling out the bottom of thechannel. This may mean that the panel may be carried upright withthermal conditioning elements mounted therein for assembly purposes. Incertain embodiments, the lower end of the channel is fully closed,thereby providing good support to the thermal conditioning elements andalso spreading their weight over the width of the body.

The thermal conditioning element retaining elements may be formed as anintegral part of the panel body. However, in advantageous embodimentsthe thermal conditioning element retaining elements are separateelements attached to the panel body. Such an arrangement as theadvantage that the retaining elements may be made from a differentmaterial from that of the panel body, for example a stronger materialthan the material of the panel body, thereby retaining the thermalconditioning elements more securely in the channel. It also means thatthe retaining element may be relatively thin, for example 1-2 mm inthickness, so that it does not project significantly from the panelbody.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the retaining elements extendat least partially around the longitudinal edges of the panel body. Inthis way, not only do the retaining elements act to retain the thermalconditioning elements in the channels, but they also act to strengthenthe edges of the panel body, and potentially provide some additionalstiffness and strength to the panel. This is particularly advantageouswhen, as discussed above, the panel body is a thermally insulatingmaterial such as a foam material, for example an expanded foam materialsuch as expanded polystyrene.

In preferred embodiments, the retaining elements are generally C shapedin section, extending around the edges of the panel body.

The retaining elements may be resilient and may be plastics elements,for example extruded plastics elements. This facilitates manufacture ofthe retaining elements.

The retaining elements may be attached to the panel body in anyconvenient manner, for example by adhesive or under their own inherentresilience. In one embodiment, however, they may be push fitted into thepanel body, for example into receiving slots or apertures formed in theinsulating body.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the foot may extend acrosssubstantially the entire lower end of the panel body. This will providegood engagement with the thermally insulating container.

The foot may project away from at least one face of the panel body, moreparticularly away from the face of the panel body having the channel.This may provide a larger foot profile which may assist in mounting thepanel in the container. In certain embodiments, the foot may projectfrom both faces of the panel body.

The above construction thought to be a novel and advantageousarrangement per se, so from a further aspect, the invention provides athermal conditioning wall panel for use in a thermally insulatingcontainer, comprising: a panel body; the panel body having opposed facesand at least one channel for receiving one or more thermal conditioningelements, and at least one foot formed at the lower end of the panelbody for engagement within a socket provided on the thermally insulatingcontainer; the foot projecting outwardly relative to at least one of thefaces of the panel body.

The foot may be of any convenient shape for engagement with thecontainer socket, for example rectangular, oval or trapezoidal.

The foot may extend over only a partial thickness of the panel body.This may form a step on the lower end of the insulating body. This mayaid in stabilising the panel when assembled, but also means that inconstructions where the foot projects from the wall panel, the foot maybe received within the step of a similar wall panel when the panels areplaced adjacent one another, allowing a compact stacking arrangement.

The step is preferably generally perpendicular to the face of the panel.

In some embodiments, a reinforcing cap may be mounted to the lower endof at least one longitudinal edge of the panel body so as to extendinwardly over a portion of the foot and upwardly over at least a lowerportion of the longitudinal edge. This provides additional strength tothe foot and the lower part of the panel body, which may be advantageouswhen, as discussed above, the body is of a foam material.

In some embodiments the face of the channel receiving the thermalconditioning elements is provided with one or more longitudinal grooves.This may be advantageous in that it will allow for circulation of airaround the thermal conditioning element within the channel. This may beparticularly advantageous if the thermal conditioning elements are beingconditioned in situ within the wall panel.

In addition, the face of the panel body opposite the channel may beprovided with one or more longitudinal grooves. This may be advantageousin cases where a stack of panels containing thermal conditioningelements is being conditioned as it will improve the circulation of airaround the thermal conditioning elements.

The thermal conditioning wall panels may also be stacked side by side ina rack having a plurality of sockets for receiving adjacent panels.

From a further aspect the invention provides a method of conditioningthermal conditioning elements for use in a thermally insulatingcontainer comprising mounting the elements in respective channelsprovided in a plurality of wall panels, and arranging the wall panelsvertically adjacent one another, side by side in a thermal conditioningenvironment.

The invention also extends to a thermally insulated container comprisinga base panel having a plurality of sockets arranged around a peripherythereof, and one or more panels as described above received in thosesockets.

The container may further comprise a plurality of outer side wall panelsof a thermally insulating material mounted to the base of the outwardlyof the inner side wall panels.

In one particular embodiment, the outer side wall panels may be arrangedto lie over projecting portions of the feet of the inner side wallpanels to assist in retaining the feet in the base sockets. Thisprovides a particularly stable construction, the outer wall panels ineffect locking the inner wall panels in position. Also, as theprojecting portions of the feet project outwardly, they do not encroachwith the payload space defined within the inner wall panels.

From a further broad aspect, therefore, the invention provides athermally insulated container comprising a base having a one or moresockets arranged around a periphery thereof, one or more inner side wallpanels received in those sockets and one or more outer side wall panelsof a thermally insulating material mounted to the base of the outwardlyof the inner side wall panels, the inner side wall panels having one ormore outwardly projecting portions, the outer side wall panel lying overthe projecting portions to assist in retaining the inner side wallpanels in the base.

To facilitate assembly, the base panel may comprise a peripheralformation, such as a rib or socket for locating the lower ends of theouter side wall panels.

Depending on the size of the respective inner and outer side wallpanels, an outer wall panel may extend over a plurality of inner sidewall panels. This facilitates assembly.

The container may also comprise one or more inner top panels, also forreceiving thermal conditioning elements, mounted to the upper ends ofthe side wall panels.

In some embodiments, the top panel may comprise a tray element havingone or more open topped compartments for receiving thermal conditioningelements. The tray element may comprise one or more divider elementsextending between longitudinal walls of the tray element to define thecompartments.

The tray is advantageously formed of a thermally insulating materialsuch as an expanded foam material and the divider element(s) may beformed integrally with the tray. The divider elements may thereby act tostrengthen the tray.

To further strengthen the tray, the tray may be provided with one ormore reinforcing elements extending along one or more longitudinal edgesthereof. This may be of particular importance where the tray is formedfrom an expanded foam material, as discussed above.

The reinforcing elements may extend at least partially around thelongitudinal edges of the tray.

The reinforcing elements may be plastics elements, for example extrudedplastics elements.

The reinforcing element may be attached to the tray in any convenientmanner, for example by adhesion, clipping or by push fitted into thebody of the tray.

In some embodiments, the tray element may comprise one or moredownwardly projecting lip elements for engagement over the upper edgesof the inner side wall panels of the container. This may assist inlocating the tray and also may, to some extent, lock the inner side wallpanels together.

In some embodiments, corner regions of the tray element may be relievedas to form handles for the tray, to facilitate handling.

The container may further comprise a lid mounted to the upper ends ofthe outer side wall panels.

The lid may comprise a plurality of sections, at least one of which ismovable to a position to create an opening for providing access to theinterior of the container.

Advantageously, the section may be configured and arranged relative tothe underlying inner top panel such that the underlying inner top panelcan be removed through the opening.

The lid sections may be connected by a hinge, for example a livinghinge, such that one section can be pivoted about the hinge to createthe opening. This may allow the movable section to be pivoted over ontop of the other section which will then support the movable section.

The hinge may be formed of a plastics element having two wings connectedby a hinge region, each wing connected to a respective lid section.

The base may also be formed in multiple parts, suitably joined together,for example with a hinge as discussed above.

From a further broad aspect, the invention extends to panel for use in athermally insulating container, the panel comprising a body of athermally insulating material in the form of a tray element having oneor more upwardly open compartments for receiving thermal conditioningelements therein.

The tray panel may include any of the other features discussed above.

The invention also extends to a lid for a thermally insulating containercomprising a plurality of sections of a thermally insulating material,at least one section being hingedly connected to another section througha hinge such that one section can be pivoted about the hinge to lie ontop of the other section.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a thermally insulated container inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the container with its outer side wall panels and lidremoved;

FIG. 5 shows a front perspective view of an inner side wall panel;

FIG. 6 shows a rear perspective view of an inner side wall panel;

FIG. 7 shows a top perspective view of an inner side wall panel;

FIG. 8 shows an exploded view of a lower end of an inner side wallpanel;

FIG. 9 shows a top perspective view of an inner top panel;

FIG. 10 shows a bottom perspective view of an inner top panel;

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of the lid in an opening configuration;

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the lid in a fully openconfiguration;

FIGS. 13a to 13d illustrate one method of erecting the container;

FIG. 14 illustrates an alternative method of erecting the container;

FIGS. 15a and 15b show front and rear perspective views of a stack ofthermally conditioning wall panels;

FIG. 16 shows a plurality of thermally conditioning wall panels in arack; and

FIG. 17 shows a further container in accordance with the invention.

With reference firstly to FIGS. 1 to 4, a thermally insulated container2 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

The container 2 is collapsible and comprises an assembly of panels. Thecontainer firstly comprises a base panel 4 which may be mounted on orattached to a pallet 6.

The base panel 4 receives a plurality of outer side wall panels 8 and aplurality of inner, thermally conditioning side wall panels 10. As willbe described further below, the inner side wall panels 10 house blocksof thermal conditioning material 12.

Mounted to the tops of the inner side wall panels 10 are a plurality ofinner top panels 14 in the form of tray elements. The top panels 14 alsoreceive blocks 16 of thermal conditioning material. A payload space 18is defined between the base panel 4, the inner side wall panels 10 andthe top panels 14.

A lid 20 is mounted to the top of the outer side wall panels 8 to closethe container 2.

With reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, an inner side wall panel 10 will bedescribed in further detail.

The inner side wall panel 10 comprises a body 22 made from a thermallyinsulating material. The material may, for example, be an expanded foam,for example, expanded polystyrene foam, for example Neopor®. One face 24of the body 22 is formed with a channel 26. The channel 26 is borderedon respective sides by longitudinal ribs 28 formed along thelongitudinal edges 29 of the body 24. The lower end of the channel 26 isclosed across its entire width by a base wall 30.

A foot 32 extends from the lower end 34 of the body 22. As can be seen,for example, from FIG. 5, the foot 32 is generally trapezoidal in shape,although other shapes are possible within the scope of the invention. Itwill also be seen that the foot 32 does not extend to the face 36 of thebody 24 opposite the face 24 having the channel 26. Rather it terminatesgenerally below the end of the channel 26 thereby forming a shoulder orstep 38 on the lower end 34 of the panel 16.

The inner side wall panels 10 are further provided with a pair ofthermal conditioning retaining elements 40 which extend along and areattached to the longitudinal edges 29 of the body 22. As can be seenfrom FIG. 7, each retaining element 40 is generally C-shaped incross-section and is provided with a pair of fins 42 extending fromopposed surfaces which are received in corresponding slots 44 formed inthe body 22. The fins 42 may engage the slots 44 with an interferencefit so as to locate the retaining elements 40 on the body 24, althoughalternative or additional attachment means may be provided, for exampleadhesive or other forms of fastener. Thus, for example, the fins 42 maybe omitted in other embodiments.

In this embodiment, the retaining elements 44 are formed of a plasticsmaterial for example polypropylene and are extruded for ease ofmanufacture. In the arrangement shown, the retaining elements 40 maysimply be attached to the edges 29 of the body 22 by being slid down thebody 22 from above.

It would be noticed that one limb 46 of the retaining elements 40extends over an edge region of the channel 26 such that the limbs 46will retain the thermal conditioning elements 12 within the channel 26.

In other embodiments, it is not necessary for the retaining elements 40to extend around the edge 29 of the body 22. For example, the retainingelements 40 may simply be strips mounted to a face of the ribs 28, orgenerally L-shaped extending partially around the edge 29.

The body 22 of the inner side wall panel 16 may, as discussed above, bemade from an insulating material, for example, a foam material. Theretaining elements 40 will also act to provide some degree of rigidityto the body 22.

In order to provide additional strength, particularly at the lower end34 of the body 22, reinforcing caps 48 may be mounted to the respectivelower longitudinal sides of the body 22. These caps 48 will have aprofile which matches that of the foot 32 and the lower part 50 of thelongitudinal edge 29 of the body 22 and extend a desired length up thelongitudinal edge 29 from the foot 32, as illustrated in phantom in FIG.8.

The cap 48 may be made from a suitable reinforcing material, forexample, a plastics material, in particular a relatively rigid plasticsmaterial such as ABS, or even a metallic material. In this embodiment,the cap 48 fits beneath the retaining elements 40 and does not interferewith the thermal conditioning elements 12 received in the channel 26.Moreover, as can also be seen from FIG. 8, the lower part 50 of the edge29 is recessed to receive the cap 48.

It will also be noted that the channel 26 is provided with a pluralityof grooves 50 in its face 52. Also, the opposed surface 36 of the body22 is also provided with shallow grooves 54. In this embodiment thegrooves 50, 54 are generally aligned although this is not necessary. Thepurpose of these grooves 50,54, will be described further below.

It will also be seen that the foot 32 is also provided with grooves 56and 58. In fact, in this embodiment a continuous groove is formed aroundthe foot to form the respective grooves 56, 58, although this is notessential.

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 13 a, it will be seen that the base panel4 of the container comprises a plurality of peripheral sockets 60 whichreceive the respective feet 32 of the inner side wall panels 10. Thesockets 60 have a complementary shape to the foot profile having agenerally trapezoidal main cavity 62 for receiving the foot, and a shelf64 for receiving the platform 38 of the body 22. It will be seen, forexample from FIG. 3 that the platform 38 lends stability to the innerside wall panel 10 as it resists the inner side wall panel 10 fromtipping over into the container 2.

The sockets 60 also have ribs 66 for engaging in the grooves 56,58 ofthe foot 32, thereby assisting in locating the inner side walls panels10 in the base panel 4.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the base panel 4 is formed in thisembodiment in two parts 4 a, 4 b which are joined together at a hinge 4c. The hinge 4 c may be a living hinge with respective wings 70 attachedto the respective base parts 4 a, 4 b. However, this is not an essentialfeature and the base panel 4 can be made in a single part or in morethan one part depending on the size of container 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, the base panel 4 is also made from athermally insulating material, for example a foam material for exampleexpanded polystyrene or other foam material. In this embodiment the basedoes not house any thermal conditioning elements, although if desired,such elements may be mounted in recesses formed in the base.

Turning now to FIGS. 9 and 10, an inner top panel 14 is shown in greaterdetail. The top panel 14 is in the form of a tray 72 having one or morecompartments 74, in this embodiment two compartments 74, formed in itsupper surface to receive thermal conditioning elements 16. In thisparticular embodiment, the compartments 74 are of such a depth that theymay receive two thermal conditioning elements 16 in each compartment 74.This will compensate to some degree for the lack of thermal conditioningelements in the base panel 4.

In this embodiment, the top panel 14 is, as is the inner side wall panel16, made from thermally insulating material, for example a moulded foammaterial, for example moulded expanded polystyrene, Neopor® etc.

The body 76 of the tray 72 is formed with a divider 78 which forms therespective compartments 74. The ribs 78 and the end walls 80 of the body76 are formed with recesses 82 which will allow a user to insert his orher fingers under the thermal conditioning elements 16 during assemblyor disassembly.

The body 76 of the tray 72 is provided, on its lower surface 86 with aseries of peripheral lip elements 88. However, the lip elements 88 donot extend into the corner regions 90 of the tray 72. Moreover, thecorner regions 90 are formed with recesses which define handles tofacilitate handling of the tray 72. A channel 92 is formed around theperiphery of the lower surface 86 between the lip elements 88 and a step94 therein.

As the tray 72 may be made from an expanded foam material, additionalrigidity may be added to the tray 72 by providing reinforcing elements96 along the respective longitudinal edges thereof. The reinforcementelements 96 may, for example, be made from a plastics or metallicmaterial and be suitably secured to the tray, for example by adhesive orby formations engaging with formations provided on the tray 72, forexample in a similar manner to the retaining elements 40 of the innerside wall panels 10. Thus, for example, each reinforcement element 96may be provided with one or more fins which engage in slots in the body76 of the tray 72.

As will be seen, for example from FIGS. 4 and 5, the top panel 14locates over the upper edges of the inner side wall panels 16. Inparticular, lip elements 88 at opposite ends of the tray 72 engage overupper edges of opposed inner side wall panels 16, while lip elements 88along one side of the tray 72 engage over upper edges of a plurality ofadjacent inner side wall panels 10. In fact, the lip elements 88 arereceived in the upper parts of the respective inner side wall panelchannels 26 (the thermal conditioning elements 12 not extending fully tothe top of the channels 26). The tray 72 rests on the upper ends of theinner side wall panels 10, the upper ends engaging with the surface 96formed at the base of the peripheral channel 92. Thus the inner sidewall panels 10 are located by the channel 92.

It will be understood that when the top panels 14 are in place, apayload space 18 is defined between the inner face 36 of the inner sidewall panels 10 and the bottom surface of the trays 72. It will be seenthat the body 22 of each inner side wall panel 10 faces the interiorpayload space 18 of the container 2, thereby acting as a thermal spacerbetween the thermal conditioning elements 12 and the payload. This ispotentially desirable in order to avoid direct thermal contact betweenthe thermal conditioning elements 12 and the payload. The body 76 of thetray 72 acts in a similar manner. The thickness of the tray wall and thebody 22 of the internal side wall panels 10 may be tailored to give thedesired thermal properties.

Turning now to the outer side wall panels 8, these are also formed of athermally insulating material, for example a foam material, for example,an expanded foam material, for example expanded polystyrene or Neopor®.In this embodiment, two types of side wall panel 8 are used. As can beseen in FIG. 13d , a first side wall panel 8 a has a generally U-shapedcross-section having side limbs 100 which extend around a corner of thecontainer 2. The other panel 8 b, is essentially planar, engagingbetween the wings 100 of opposed panels 8 a. The wings 100 have groovesto receive the ends of the panels 8 a. As can be seen for example fromFIG. 3, the lower end 102 of each outer side wall panel 8 a is formedwith a step to provide a projecting portion 106 which is received in aperipheral channel 108 of the base panel 8. Thus, when the outer sidewall members 8 a, 8 b engage with the base panel 4, the projectingportion 106 overlies the upper surface 104 of the inner side wall panelfoot 32. This provides additional stability to the inner side wallpanels 10, particularly during assembly.

The lid member 20 comprises two lid portions 20 a, 20 b hingedlyconnected by a hinge 110, as shown in FIG. 1.

Each lid portion 20 a, 20 b is formed of a thermally insulatingmaterial, for example a foam material, for example an expanded foammaterial such as expanded polystyrene. It comprises a depending lip 112which engages with an upwardly extending lip 114 provided on therespective outer side wall panels 8 a,8 b in order to locate the lid 20in position on the outer side wall panels 8 a, 8 b.

The hinge 110 may be of any suitable construction and may, for example,be a living hinge, for example formed from a plastics material. Thehinge 110 may comprise respective wings 116 which are suitably attached,for example by fasteners or adhesive, to the respective lid portions 20a,20 b. As can be seen from FIG. 11, this allows one of the lid portions20 a, 20 b to be folded over and rested on the other of the lid portions20 a, and 20 b as shown in FIG. 12.

The construction of the container 2 shown in FIG. 1 will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. It will be understood thatthe container 2 is fully collapsible and is erected from its collapsedcomponents. The system allows thermal conditioning elements 12 to bearranged in the inner side wall panels 10 either during assembly of thecontainer 2 or prior to assembly.

With reference to FIG. 13a , as a first stage in assembly of thecontainer 2 without the thermal conditioning elements 12, respectiveinner side wall panels 16 are positioned in the base panel 4, with theirrespective feet 32 engaged in the sockets 60 provided in the peripheralregion of the base panel 4. Because of the step-like shape of the lowerend of the inner side wall panels 16, the side wall panels 16 will beessentially self-supporting, which assists in assembly. It should benoted that a payload may be positioned on the base panel 4 beforeassembly begins or at a suitable point in the assembly process.

The inner side wall panels 16 are erected around the entire periphery ofthe base panel 8 as illustrated in FIG. 13b . Thereafter, as illustratedin FIG. 13c , the outer side wall panels 8 a, 8 b are assembled aroundthe inner side wall panels 10, with their lower edges overlapping thefeet 32 of the respective inner side wall panels 10 as discussed above.This lends additional stability to the side walls during assembly.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 13d , the thermal conditioning elements 12may be dropped into the channels 26 of the respective inner side wallpanels 10. In this embodiment, each side wall panel accommodates twothermal conditioning elements 12. The thermal conditioning elements 12may comprise any suitable thermal conditioning material, depending onthe particular nature of the payload being transported. For example, theelements may be blocks or bricks containing water or other coolants, forexample phase change materials. The invention is not limited to the useof any particular thermal conditioning material, nor to the number orshape of the thermal conditioning elements 12 received in the channels26.

Once the thermal conditioning elements 12 have been inserted into thechannels 26 of the inner side wall panels 16, the top inner panels 14may be located over the upper ends of the inner side wall panels 16, theupper ends being received in the channel 92 of each top inner panel 14.This firmly locks the upper ends of the inner side wall panels 16together and in effect closes the top of each channel 26.

Once the top panels 14 are in position, thermal conditioning elements 16(which may be of the same or of a different construction from thethermal conditioning elements 12 arranged in the inner side wall panels10) are inserted into the compartments 74 in the tray body 76. Once thethermal conditioning elements 16 are in position, the lid 20 may bepositioned over upper ends of the outer side wall panels 12 in order toclose the container. In order to secure the container, straps may bewrapped around the container. To this end, corners or edges of the outerside walls 8 and lid 20 may be provided with protection elements 120,for example plastics or other strips, suitably attached to the cornersor edges in the desired positions.

In an alternative arrangement, the thermal conditioning elements 12 maybe preloaded into the inner side wall panels 14. This is illustrated inFIG. 14. The thermal conditioning elements 16 may be also be preloadedinto the top panels 14 as illustrated.

An advantage of the inner side wall panels 10 as disclosed is that theymay be stacked adjacent one another, for example as illustrated in FIGS.15a and 15b . The design of the panel allows a distal portion of eachfoot 32 to engage under the platform 34 of an adjacent inner side wallpanel 10 as illustrated. Moreover, the thermal conditioning elements 18may be preconditioned in the inner side wall panels 16, in the stackedconfiguration. In this regard, as can be seen best in FIG. 15b , therespective grooves 50, 54 formed in the respective faces of the innerside wall panels 10 will allow air to circulate in front of and behind athermal conditioning element 12 retained in the inner side wall panel 10which will allow the thermal conditioning element 10 to be thermallyconditioned more quickly.

The inner side wall panels 10 may also be stacked in a rack 130, asillustrated in FIG. 16. The rack 130 may be made from any suitablematerial, for example a moulded plastics material. The rack is providedwith a series of sockets 132 for receiving the panels 10 adjacent oneanother. The panels 10 will be spaced from one another which may improvethe thermal conditioning of the elements 12 therein.

It will be understood that the above description is simply of oneembodiment of the invention and various modifications may be madethereto without departing from the scope of the invention. For example,the design lends itself to adaptation to different sizes of container.For example, FIG. 17 illustrates a different shape of container 202having two outer side wall panels 8 b in place of the single outer sidewall panel 8 b of the first embodiment. Internally, there will be sixinternal side wall panels extending along the longer wall of thecontainer 202, with four top panels. In addition, the lid 214 comprisesa central lid portion 214 a and two side portions 214 b which areconnected to the central portion through respective hinges 214 c.

It will also be understood that the design of the present inventionallows the contents of the container 2 to be inspected withoutdisassembly of the whole container. In particular, as illustrated inFIG. 11, one lid part 20 a may be pivoted back over another lid part 20b in order to create an opening in the top of the container. Thisopening is positioned and as such a size to allow the underlying toppanel 14 to be removed through the opening so that the contents of thecontainer 2 can be inspected. Once inspected, the panel 14 and lid part20 b may be replaced.

In this embodiment, all the panels 4, 8, 10 and the lid 20 are formedfrom a thermally insulating material, such as an expanded foam material,such as expanded polystyrene, for example Neopor®, although theinvention is not limited to these particular materials.

Also, in other embodiments, multiple channels may be provided in an oreach inner side wall panel 10. For example the channel panel may beformed with one or more intermediate longitudinal ribs, with additionalretaining elements attached to those ribs to retain the thermalconditioning elements.

1. A panel for use in a thermally insulating container, the panelcomprising a body of a thermally insulating material in the form of atray element having one or more upwardly open compartments for receivingthermal conditioning elements therein.
 2. A panel as claimed in claim 1,wherein the tray element comprises one or more divider elementsextending between longitudinal walls of the tray element to define thecompartments.
 3. A panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tray elementis provided with one or more reinforcing elements extending along one ormore longitudinal edges thereof.
 4. A panel as claimed in claim 1,wherein the tray element comprises one or more downwardly projectingperipheral lip elements.
 5. A panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein achannel is formed between the lip elements and the base of the trayelement.
 6. A lid for a thermally insulating container comprising aplurality of sections of a thermally insulating material, at least onesection being hingedly connected to another section through a hinge suchthat one section can be pivoted about the hinge to lid on top of theother section.
 7. A method of conditioning thermal conditioning elementsfor use in a thermally insulating container comprising mounting theelements in respective channels provided in a plurality of wall panels,and arranging the wall panels vertically adjacent one another, side byside in a thermal conditioning environment.